SHARJAH: Gulftainer Company Limited (GTL), the largest privately owned ports operator in the world, based in Sharjah, have started their operations in the port of Recife in Brazil in July 2012 and receives their first vessel in the region; discharging 47 steel coils, each weighing 12 tonnes, in a remarkably short time of 1.7 hours.

The efficient and time-saving service marked a considerable improvement compared to the average productivity level of the port.

On the occasion, Joseph Bruno, the ports and logistics manager for Gulftainer Brazil, said, “We aimed to unload the steel coils in two hours, but managed to finish the work even faster.”

He said the standard operation was to use the ship’s crane to discharge the steel coils one by one, but Gulftainer with its Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHCs) discharged the coils two at a time using specific stevedoring material which was also protected with rubber. The coils were then loaded on to the trucks by using a 16mt forklift which resulted in a 100 per cent increase in productivity levels and zero damages to the cargo and trucks.

The steel coils were brought by the vessel Saga Beija Flor and were loaded at the Port of Singapore in Southeast Asia.

Brazil, notwithstanding certain procedural and regulatory difficulties, is experiencing good growth with its economy expanding at the rate of around 7% and a large population of 200 million people.

There was a substantial need and potential for Gulftainer’s services in Recife with the region having sizable exports of granite, malt, barley, sugar, meat, fruits and fish, and with imports of steel and rice and consumer goods. Recife Port, despite being in a city of 4 million people in the Pernambuco region of North Eastern Brazil, has no container services and traffic moves through the often congested Suape Port, around 70 km away.